Naruto: The Flashing Ninja
by dgj212
Summary: What if Naruto inherited more than just looks and personalities from his parents? But problems are always chewing him up and leading him astray. The choices are always there, but will the harrowing shell surrounding him define the way he lives his life or can he rise from that shell soar higher than ever before. The choices can be noxious or sweet, but the end is everything...
1. The Beginning

This is a one shot I thought about and if people one me to continue I will and if any one wants to use this idea they can or if any one wants to use this story to begin your story you can, hey it's fanfic and it's not like anyone makes money by writing fanfics here so sure I don't mind; I'll that I ask is that you send me the link to the story.

I DON'T OWN NARUTO

A little boy was sitting on the floor curled up into a ball in the corner of his apartment. This boy was wearing a grey shirt with holes and has the Uzumaki crest on the back, sandals, and worn out shorts. They boy was skinny, he had no strong muscles, no excess fat, has sun kissed hair and his most noticeable feature are the whisker like birthmarks on his cheeks.

This boy is the pariah of Konoha, the village hidden in the leaves, this boy has been marked an outcast and was considered lower than dirt by the "kindest" village in the elemental nations. The boy has never had a family, guardian, or…a friend; he had no one to rely on. This boy is also the jailer of the nine tailed fox, Kyuubi.

This boy is Naruto Uzumaki.

_Drip-drop...drip-__drop...drip…_ The boy sat there in the corner, listening to the sounds of his tears hit the floor. His nose got clogged up so now he was starting to breathe more with his mouth. His life sucks, everyone hates. His days at the academy were awful thanks to Konoha's "precious" Uchiha, Sasuke.

Today was supposed to be his first day back from his summer vacation, if you can call it that, but on his way there a group of people threw stones at him, freaking hard stones!

"_Why? Why does everyone hate me!"_ thought Naruto in his head. _"Sasuke is like me…but why don't they hate him!"_

Naruto just wanted to stop being sad but everything was making him sad. Naruto felt a jolt, the feeling started from the tips of toes all the way to his last thread of hair on his head. It all happened in less than a second; it felt like someone pushed him molecule by molecule.

"OW!" Yelled Naruto as he gripped himself harder, now his body felt like it was ripped apart then put back together, all under just one second, even less. "Huh?" said Naruto because he suddenly felt warmer. He looked up and found himself staring at Konoha, he looked above and saw the sun.

One sentence ran through his Mind…"How the hell did get out here!" Naruto thought out loud.

After a few moments Naruto decided it was probably best for him to go back this apartment.

When Naruto got up he immediately grabbed his chest and gritted his teeth. His body really did feel like it was split apart and put back together. After a few moments the pain subsided and Naruto continued to his apartment.

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><p>An ANBU agent, located on rooftop of a building parallel to building complex where Naruto lives, has been watching Naruto's apartment because she had to shadow him. Follow him and make sure he didn't get hurt. The streets were silent and Naruto hasn't left his apartment at all. The ANBU agent felt sorry for him. To be alone by yourself in the dark and left there not knowing why. Any one would would lose...but he hasn't yet.<p>

"Man this really sucks Dattebayo." She heard a kid say below him. She looked down and said to herself "What the hell!" Below him was the one and the only, Naruto Uzumaki. "But how? He didn't leave his apartment at all!"

She saw the boy stop and look at the Hokage monument. "I am going to be the next Hokage Dattebayo!" Naruto Yelled but no one was there despite it being a very large village. The boy started running to his apartment but he suddenly disappeared in a iridescent orange flash and reappeared in front of a wall that now had a crcak on it, he even left a dent on it, and fell backwards twitching.

"Who the hell keeps doing this to me Dattebayo!" Naruto yelled as he continued to walk to his apartment.

The ANBU agent could only think of one thing. _"I shouldn't have accepted that drink they offered me."_

"Hey Anko, it's my turn to shadow him."

Said person turned around to see another ANBU agent. "I thought we weren't supposed to say our names out load Yugao."

"Were not supposed to but it's not like you follow the rule" replied Yugao.

"Very true, later I really need to clear my head" said Anko as she pulled her mask down slightly to rub her forehead.

"What happened?"

"I was staring at Naruto's apartment and he never left. But a few minutes later he was walking back to his apartment, how the heck is that possible! I never saw him leave."

"Maybe should have paid more attention."

"I had my full attention on that brat! It's that drink you gave me threw that me off my game."

"Sorry, the _drink_ threw you off your game?"

"Yeah it did, Yugao."

"Anko, you do realize it was only orange juice right?"

"ORANGE JUICE! I thought it was Sake!"

"Anko, we are not allowed to drink on the job! So of course it's not-wait. You didn't notice it was Orange juice until now?"

"No I didn't. I just gulped it down because I was really thirsty, I mean who wakes up early in the morning to do pranks and still have energy later? I didn't even have a chance to get my morning dango!"

"Jeez, I knew you had dango withdrawal but I didn't think it was this bad" Yugao said to herself.

"What was that?" Anko asked menacingly.

"Yeah I know. I mean we still have debate going on about it" Yugao said as if nothing ever happened. "So far everyone is edging closer to the biju theory." She saw Anko staring at her. "One of our guess is that it might be the biju's influence that gives him all that energy" she explained. "Either way Naruto is the perfect way to train new ANBU members or in your case to teach how a person to shadow someone."

"Yeah, this was a waste of time. ARRRG! I should've have just tortured-I mean interrogated those people who threw rocks at him! It's a whole lot more fun than this."

"I still can't understand the sick pleasure you get from doing that."

"That's because you haven't stepped in my shoes~"

"And I don't want to!"

"Ah Come on~ I could let you interrogate someone one these days."

"Yeah…no thanks" Yugao said as she jumped to the other building and sneaked next to the window on Naruto's apartment. She took a peek inside.

"You're missing out on the pleasure of hearing someone scream, Yugao~. Now is time to get mama some dango" Anko said as she walked away…


	2. Coming to Conclusions

Hey guys I decided to continue this but don't expect speedy or long updates Kay? You guys can take or rip any ideas off me for fanfics just send me to the link to the story.

Don't own Naruto (that's obvious)

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><p>"This…sucks…" Said one thirteen year old Naruto, having his head resting on his left arm that was on his desk while he was currently getting chewed out by Iruka after school. The reason, he was late to class, the excuse? Naruto…crashed into tree knocking him out in the process and, Naturally, Iruka didn't buy it. But the problem is, Naruto wasn't selling it. Naruto didn't know how, but he ended up bumping into a tree. Just as he reached the school grounds running at full speed ZAAAAAP! There was suddenly a tree right in front of him! He didn't get it one bit, he was determined to get to class early but he ended up running into a tree thus getting late to class and had to stay after school…How the hell is that possible? <em>"What deity did I piss off to deserve this?"<em> Naruto asked himself while he stared blankly at Iruka; for some reason all he heard come out of Iruka's mouth was "Blah blah blah…"

"BLAH BLAH BLAH! BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH, BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH, BLAH! AND THAT'S HOW IT'S NOT POSSIBLE TO RUN INTO A TREE WHILE YOUR LOOKING FORWARD!" Yelled Iruka whose head was currently bigger than normal. Naruto swear that Iruka uses a genjutsu to get that effect, but he never sees him do any hand seals. "ARE YOU EVEN PAYING ATTENTION NARUTO!"

"Uh-huh, cool story Iruka-sensei" Naruto said as he was looking away using fist to hold his head up..

"ARRG! PAY ATTENTION DAMN IT!" Yelled Iruka as he accidentality crushed a pencil that was in his hand but Naruto didn't even flinch, he didn't even waste glance. Iruka sighed seeing as it was getting nowhere. "Naruto you want to graduate right? So why don't you ever take school seriously?"

"I try, Iruka sensei" Naruto said in a bored voice "I try but it's like some is out to get me...no it's more like a some sort deity or reaper is out to get me" The last part made Iruka lift an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to say that it was not possible but Naruto beat him to punch. "I know it's not possible. But maybe I had a past life and I did something to piss someone off and I ended being an untouchable."

Iruka sighed "Naruto, that's probably not it either"Iruka said as he soften up. "I knew teaching class about samsara and the caste system would have a drawback" Iruka thought out loud as he rubbed his temples.

"If that's not it than how can you explain it, why every time I try so hard I end up failing and not to mention the fact that everyone pretends that am not there?"

"look Naruto , i can't explain it-" that's when it hit Iruka, he was feeling sorry for Naruto. "DANM IT NARUTO! I told you not to try that on me again!"

"Damn it! I was so close" Naruto whispered to himself. Truth is, Naruto was done trying to figure out why everybody hated him...so he gets even by throwing pranks at everyone. Last weak Naruto got Iruka to let him go by making Iruka pity him before he realized he was tricked into it.

"But I'm serious I tried to make it to school on time this morning but ran into a tree!" Naruto argued as he directed himself at his teacher.

"OK Naruto, say I do believe you...But what about skipping class during break and painting the Hokage Monument?" Oh yeah, he was also staying after school for painting the Hokage Monument.

"I was bored and I didn't realized that it took longer than thirty minutes to paint the Hokage Monument."

"..." Iruka stood quiet for a moment before he said "Naruto break is only ten minutes; lunch is thirty minutes."

"I hoped that you wouldn't mind me being late to class for a couple of minutes" Naruto said defensively.

"...twenty minutes is not a couple of minutes Naruto...And it a couple of seconds not minutes!"

"Geez sorry, it's not like I had a watch or something while I was painting the Hokage Monument" Naruto said as he side glanced at the window.

"TIME ISN'T THE ISSUE HERE!" Iruka yelled as his head suddenly got bigger. "I mean of all the things why the Hokage Monument?" Iruka was only responded with silence as Naruto resumed to his original position. Iruka sighed again as he rubbed his temples "alright" he said. "Lets go."

Naruto's ears perked up as he looked at Iruka again with confused look and asked "go where?"

Iruked looked sternly at Naruto. "Naruto, who painted the Hokage Monument?" Naruto started getting the feeling that he wasn't going to like where this was going.

"Uh...me?" he replied, unaware as to why his teacher would ask him something they both already know.

"Correct" Iruka said as he gave a mug smile that Naruto didn't like. "Now guess who has to clean it up." It's official, Naruto definitely didn't like where this was going.

"Uh...the chunins that tried to catch me?" he said meekly with a glimmer of hope.

"Nope" Iruka said as he recovered his stern look and folded arms.

_"...Uh crap"_ thought Naruto.

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><p>Later on during the day<p>

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><p>"THIS SUCK!" Naruto yelled as he cleaned away his mischievous work. At the moment he was cleaning the third Hokage's nose.<p>

"You brought this upon yourself, Naruto. Did you really think you could do this and get away with it." Iruka said as he sat crossed legged, on top of the Monument whilst he watched his student work.

"I was hoping I would" Naruto grumbled out to himself.

"Naruto, your not going home until every single drop-no, every single speak of paint is gone."

"HMMP!" said Naruto "Like I care, it's not like someone is waiting for me at home anyway.

Iruka sat there and tared at his student. Sure he was obnoxiousness, annoying, irritating...and a_nnoying. _ But he reminded Iruka of himself. Iruka smiled as he lightened up "Hey Naruto."

"What?" Naruto responded without looking up.

"When your done, I'll treat you to ramen; how does that sound?"

"FOR REAL!" Naruto yelled as he looked up to his Sensei who looked back at him and nodded "YAY! Now that's how you motivate a guy!" Iruka chuckled at this, he could think of a lot of ways to motivate a guy, but some of them were ways that girls use. _"Just wait when you grow and get a girlfriend, Naruto...if you ever grow up, stop being immature, and annoying...and..."_

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><p>Sometime later<p>

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><p>"Wow, I can't believe you finished earlier than I thought you would" Iruka said as he eyed his student. At the moment Naruto and Iruka were using the mountain pass to get down to the tourist spot that gives a great view of the Hokage Monument and it also has stairs that lead down the bus district of the city.<p>

"Nothing comes before ramen,Dattebayo!" Naruto Yelled as he pumped his fist in the air.

"If only you could say that about your studies" Iruka said to himself. But Naruto heard it any ways.

"Iruka-sensei I try, I really do! Remember how you told us yesterday about how the exam is going to be about the Clone Jutsu tomorrow?" Iruka but Naruto ended speaking first. "Well I have been practicing all day yesterday! I put every every single drop of effort into this one jutsu just to produce _one_ clone and it always comes out looking like a big blob"

"Big orange blob" corrected Iruka.

"Whatever Iruka-sensei! All I'm saying is that I put my heart and soul into it!"

Iruka sighed at his frustrated student "alright lets stop here, Naruto" Iruka said as he stoped dead in his tracks.

"Huh, why?" Naruto asked "I thought we were going to get ramen."

"We are" Iruka assured Naruto "just quickly, create a clone."

"But Iruka-sensei it always ends up being half dead" Naruto persisted.

"Naruto, at least try to make one" Iruka said as he was actually curious as to why his student was having trouble with one of the easiest jutsus ever created.

"Alright fine" Naruto grumbled as he folded his arm with tick mark on his face. Naruto quickly got into the stance and ran threw the necessary hand seal out. "CLONE JUTSU!" Naruto yelled as a puff of smoke appeared next to him. Naruto didn't have to look to know what was there but he did it anyway. A half dead and pail version of Naruto was lying flat on the floor with it's tongue sticking out. Naruto saved himself the embarrassment and dispelled his Jutsu.

"Alright" said Iruka "now tell me exactly what you did."

"WHAT?" Naruto yelled out Naruto.

"Naruto, just tell me."

"...Exactly what I did?"

"Exactly what you did" Iruka repeated.

"OK...First, I got into the stance you and Mizuki-sensei taught us. Next I formed the necessary hand seals, which you and Muziki-sensei also taught us. Then I focus every single drop of chakra into the jutsu and finally-" Naruto was about to finish when Iruka cut him of when he was he thought her heard some thing wrong.

"Sorry what was that? Did you say you concentrated _every_ single drop of chakra into the jutsu?" Iruka said as he felt a headache coming whilst he observed his student.

"Uh yeah, exactly whats the point of doing all of this?" Naruto asked oblivious to his teachers glare.

"Naruto...your not supposed to put all of you chakra into the jutsu" Iruka stated.

"Your not?" Naruto said in confusion.

"No your not! I said this a thousand times! Weren't you paying attention!"

"Uh...would you like the truth or a lie, I could even make it funny if you want?" Naruto stood there as Iruka's glare depend. Desperate to get out of situation naruto tried to get the heat off him. "Besides I tried using little chakra and it ended being the same"

Iruka sighed, he felt like he was doing it way to much, he rubbed his temple when an idea hit him. "Naruto make as many clones as you can" Iruka commanded but his command was only replied with silence.

"Aaaah Iruka-sensei, you do realize that I can barely make one right?" Naruto as he waited for his Iruka's reply.

"Naruto just do what I say Ok?" Iruka waited for moment before Naruto let a breath and nodded. "OK now do everything you did this time again, but what your going to do differently is instead for aiming for one clone aim for...I don't um...thirty."

"WHAT! You want me to make thirty clones!" yelled one hysterical and exasperated Naruto as he waved his arms up and down frantically "I can barely make one".

"Thirty or more" restated Iruka. "Look Naruto this is for your good, I mean, you do want to graduate don't you?" It was silent and the wind picked up blowing across their faces taking a few leaves with it. "...I'll buy you the giant sized bowl" Iruka said without a hint of emotion in voice, FYI, no motivation.

"ALRIGHT I'LL DO MY BEST!" Naruto yelled as he pumped his hand in the air and yelled "RAMEN!"

_"It's always ramen with this kid" _Iruka thought as he observed Naruto get into the position he _personally_ drilled Naruto to do_. _

_"Alright focus Naruto"_ Naruto told himself _"Think of thirty clones...think of the ramen!"_ Naruto did the same hand seal again and yelled with all his gut to the heavens "CLONE JUTSU!" There was a loud puff of smoke that obscured both Naruto and Iruka. It was silent for moment until the smoke cleared a way. As it did, both Naruto and Iruka Widen their eyes to the sight of hundreds, no thousands, heck probably millions of illusionary clones surrounding them.

"I can't...belive it" Naruto said in a low voice as all the clones mimicked the motions while Iruka had his mouth open, gaping like a fish gaps for air (water) when it's out of the water "I did it" Naruto said in a low voice again "I did it" he said in a louder voice "I DID IT!" he yelled. "I MADE A CLONES!" He yelled as he jumped and pumped his arms for the sky above as all the clones mimicked him.

"Wow...my hunch was right!" Iruka said as he tried to count the amount of clones Naruto made.

This statement caught Naruto's attention "Eh, whadoya mean Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka would have responded immediately but he was disturbed by the clones. "Ah Naruto, can you dispel the clones, their kinda creeping me out."

"What? Come on sensei they can't be that bad?" Naruto was replied with Iruka's soft stare "fineeee" Naruto grumbled out as he dispelled his clones.

Iruka, now glad that the clones were gone with a puff of smoke, cleared his throat and said "Naruto the reason you couldn't perform the jutsu correctly was because you were born with a rare condition."

"A rare condition?" Naruto asked his teacher to be responded with a nod

"Naruto, you seem to have been born with a large chakra reserve. I know what your thinking, Naruto. "isn't having a lot of chakra a good thing?" or something around those lines, right" Iruka only gave Naruto the time to nod before he continued with his lecture. "Well Naruto having that much chakra is actually a hassle because it's hard to control, imagine it like a faucet that releases the amount of water you want, that's the normal amount of chakra most people have; in your case, well... It's like a river so you can't control it enough unless you dig trenches or your case train harder. You just don't have enough chakra control to handle this much chakra, Naruto."

"But I can still graduate right?" Naruto asked hoping that this wasn't going where he thought it was going.

"Yes you can still graduate by passing the exam tomorrow." Iruka hadn't even finish the sentence when Naruto started jumping around laughing and yelling "I'm gonna be a ninja! I'm gonna be a ninja!"

"But" said Iruka as he regained Naruto's attention. "I can still keep you in the academy by sending a later of recommendation to the principal and have you stay here and train to get a better grip over your unusually large amount of chakra."

"WHAT! YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! PLEASE IRUKA-SENSEI! I DON"T WANNA STAY IN THE ACADEMY FOR ANOTHER YEAR!" Naruto yelled as tears started coming out of his as he had them shut.

Iruka could've sworn that Naruto blow one of his eardrums, but never the less he started once again with his explanation. "Naruto I can't do that" this got a "huh" out of Naruto. ''Only if you fail the exam can you repeat a year. Naruto, what I meant by keeping you in the academy, I mean to have you come in after having your meeting Sessions and or training sessions with your sensei and teammates after you graduate so that you can get your chakra under control. Think of it this way, you'll be a "special" genin" Iruka chuckled out.

"So I can still graduate!" It was more of a statement than a question but Iruka answered reluctantly.

"Yes, you can still graduate" Iruka said in the same monotone voice as he raised his arms to cover his ears to brace for the unavoidable.

"AAALLLL RIIIIIIIGHT!"

"Alright, that's enough" said Iruka "lets go get some ramen" he said as he jerked a thumb in the general direction of Naruto's favorite eatery as Naruto just nodded his head. "By the way, Naruto; why _did _you come to school late?"

"Do you want the truth or a funny lie?"

"The truth."

"I ran into a tree."

Iruka sighed "I should have figured you wouldn't tell the truth"

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><p>Nighttime, Naruto's Apartment<p>

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><p>Naruto awoke in the middle of the night breathing hard...again, he swears he hears rustling noises but every time he wakes up, there's nothing there, and it can't be a nightmare because he doesn't scream when he wake up, he's not sweating, actually he doesn't even have a bad dream...sort of; but he notice a pattern. He always hears the strange racket when had <em>that<em> dream. What creeps him out about the noise is not that the fact that he hears it, or that he can some how feel the shaky vibrations, but the fact that he found a strange comfort in it.

"It was that same dream again" Naruto told himself as he shed a tear. OK he also gets sad. And then Naruto shed another...and another...and another. OK he gets really sad, big deal, boys cry too! Naruto let the last tear slid down his cheek as he sat there, mindlessly staring at the sheets. He let out a big sigh and look out the window. He readjusted his leech like night cap and moved to the window sill, rested his arms on it before he rested his head on his arms and let one of the corners of his mouth drop. "Why does that dream hunt me?" Naruto asked himself as he looked at the surreal beauty of kindled Konoha, admiring how the village's gleam pierces the dark shroud that it the night. Naruto got up form the window sill and took a warm shower, usually when he wakes up he can't go back to sleep; the warm shower brightened his mood a little. He got dressed, he left his apartment, not even bothering to waste his time trying to figure out what time it was.

He locked his door and started making way to his destination...the park. As he walked he basked in the coolness of the midnight air, he enjoyed how the cool air would calm him down and make him feel comfortable. When he reached the park he headed directly for the swings. As he sat then he started thinking about his situation. In a couple of hours...Naruto is going to graduate; sure he was happy but a lot can change in one little event. And then there was the "running into a tree problem", Naruto had thought about it really hard before.

He would always appear in from one part of the village to the other, sometimes he appeared out side the village...one time he appeared in the middle of an ANBU meeting. And the thing is, he never remembers how the hell he got there, but after he got there, he got one hell of sting all over his body. Sometimes he would be running and he wood run into the thing in front of him in seconds. IT wasn't trying to diagnose your self but after staring at the fourth Hokage figure that was carved into the Hokage Monument, the answer hit him. He couldn't believe how stupid he was not to notice it, most importantly, how the hell didn't anyone else noticed it? Naruto came to the conclusion that all the things happening to him was because he...has memory loss! How he ended up from one spot to another, how he didn't remember anything and only felt pain...It makes perfect sense! After that, he came to another reasonable conclusion.

Naruto began swinging slowly as he stared at the moon's reflection that appeared on the lake next to the park. "I will be graduating soon" Naruto told himself "goodbye little kid and hello big boy, right dattebayo?" Naruto asked himself, "why does change seem bad? Why...can't I see it as something good?" Naruto asked out loud. He sighed "why do I talk as if someone is listening dattebayo?" Naruto looked away form the lake and directed his attention to the moon "whatever happens I can't let them find out dattebayo" he told himself. If anyone was to find out about his condition, he would get reported and kicked off the program, wait no he was about to graduate, they would strip him of his rank and make him be something else. "I'll think about that problem it when matter's I guess, for now, I have to focus on being a ninja" Naruto told himself with a hard face on. "...As soon as I learn to stop talking to myself..."

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><p>Academy after a couple of hours later<p>

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><p>The test started half an hour ago and everybody has already gone up and, surprisingly, everybody was able to make at least three clones. Now, it was Naruto's turn. There was a lot things everybody wanted say (minus Sasuke who barely cared about anything)but anything negative or distracting said would be punishable by sentencing the accused of such act with automatic failure and if you had passed you are taken out of the program (technically their not ninja's until they exit the building).<p>

"Naruto Uzumaki" He heard Mizuki call his name "Here I go" he whispered himself with a determined look on his face as he got up and walked tords the door that lead to the other room. As he entered his room he noticed both Iruka and Mizuki standing behind a table that had loads of forehead protectors on it.

"Alright Naruto, perform the Clone Jutsu" Iruka said with a smile on his face as Naruto nodded and got into the stance and breathed some air in through his nose and and let out as he stared at the forehead protectors right in front of him, they sat on the desk looking fresh and new just like fruit just waiting to be picked.

_"Alright, this it"_ Naruto thought in his head_"think thirty clones, no think of a lot of clones!"_ Naruto yelled in his head. "Ninja Art: Clone Jutsu!" Naruto yelled as puffing sounds followed behind along with smoke clouds that obscured the entire room. As soon as it cleared, Mizuki's jaw dropped a he let out a rough and loud "HUH!" that could be heard outside.

"Oi, whatdoya think Naruto did this time?" a boy with messy brown hair, slit like black eyes, and red markings on cheek asked the closest classmate next to him, which happened to boy a boy with black hair pulled back in a pineapple who, at the moment was resting his head on his arm. "Kiba, can't a guy take nap in peace? Ugh, why is this class so troublesome?"

"IRUKA, WHY AREN'T YOU SURPRISED?" Mizuki yelled loud enough for the class to hear.

"Wow Mizuki-sensei is really shocked this time, huh Shikamaru?" a husky kid next to Shikamaru said as he ate a bag of pork grinds.

"I guess, Choji" was Shikamaru's lazy reply.

The door opened but no one was looking, no one but a girl with neck long dark blue hair, fair skin, and pale eyes...her name is Hinata and she had a worried look on her face. She focused at the door as soon as she saw Naruto walk out with a forehead protector her face bloomed into a smile "ah Naruto passed" she said as she rested her head on her hand and looked at him with dreamy like eyes.

Some girls that were sitting next to her kind of heard her but not really, so they turn to the direction of Naruto and when they noticed the forehead protector and his genuine smile...well... they lost control of their tongues "Holy shi,t Naruto passed!" One of the girl shouted catching every one's attention as they all said "huh" and looked at Naruto

"Wow he did passed" said a random student.

"no he stoled it, that's why Mizuki yelled right?" said another.

"Yep that's probably it!"

"But Iruka how's that possible!" they heard Mizuki say as both him and Iruka walked out of the room while Iruka was writing something. "I mean we should've known he was born with that condition. I mean we had two students in total dropped from the program because of their conditions! Heck, I think we even rejected a clan kid from entering the ninja program! So how did he escape our notice?"

"Oh you mean Yakumo from the Kurama clan? It wasn't that she didn't enter the program, she just didn't enter the academy; I think a genjutsu specialist trained her. Oh and to answer your question Mizuki. It's simple, Mizuki we weren't good enough as a teacher but we pulled through in the end and that's what matters."

"HEY! Iruka sensei!" a voice called out as it caught the attention of both chunin teachers; it was a pink headed girl who called them "Naruto stole a forehead protector!"

Iruka sighed "No miss Haruno, Naruto actually passed"

This earned a bunch of "HUH!" as Naruto could only smile.

"That right, I passed, like I told ya I would dattebayo" Naruto said loud and proud.


	3. Expectations

Sup guys, please read enjoy and review!

I don't own anything!

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><p>Hatred is merely a word. To truly feel the hatred going through a person, even if its illogical, you first have to step into their shoes, to see things from their eyes, their point of view. As a lost little boy, Naruto had no way of knowing the hatred and malice directed at him. He even couldn't understand his own hatred. Being angry was fine, he could handle it. But when he gets angry, hatred takes over. It made no sense, simple things that really isn't even an issue, to him anyway, gets him so infuriated. Needless to say, his senseless rage isolated him from the people he could have come to call his friends. But he has learned to tame his hatred, to conceal it, so that he may never again be isolated. And yet by doing so, he isolated his true self from the world he sought to be a part of. Hatred truly is a monster that grows in the heart of innocent men and in the end, even the most humblest of men can be consumed by blind hatred.<p>

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><p>"Well this sucks" Naruto said bitterly as he kicked a can down a random dirt alleyway. After he passed, and he was the last one, everybody was pretty much surprised, though a few didn't care if he did or not. Afterwards, while everybody was leaving, Iruka asked him to stay a bit longer so that he could sign something for his "Special Genin" training. Of course Naruto agreed, and he was happy he did. Even though he was still inside the building, away from the eyes of the adults, he could still hear their surprise about him passing the exam.<p>

Why? Why was it so shocking for him to pass? What was wrong with him in particular passing? Many orphans enroll into the life of a ninja and most succeeded, so why not him? That is excluding all the amnesia attacks and self talking habits (all kept secret). What could he have possibly done to warrant something around the lines of "He should be kicked out of the program" and what not?

After Naruto had signed the papers, he left. He calmly walked outside and passing the crowd that he would have annoyed or mock for thinking that he would have failed. He just passed them, ignored the stares and kept on walking.

"What did I expect to happen?" He asked himself as he kicked the can again. He had just passed the exam to become a genin and right now he was scowling while venting out his frustration on a can that once contained orange Fizzy Soda while walking home. And just before he was about to kick the can again he stopped, the tip of his toe connecting with the can making it roll forward, he watched it roll forward with ease. And just then, instead of seeing the worn out label for Orange Fizzy Soda, he saw Sasuke with one of his lips curled up into a grin as the can kept rolling forward while he stayed where he remained.

"What _did_ I expect to happen" he asked himself in a low voice. Really, what did he expect? Ever since he completely failed the clone jutsu, among other things, he has never really thought about what would happen after he passed the test instead of just passing it. Throughout the month he has at least heard five kids planning a graduation party, two were a big for-all party while the other two was just for a small group of friends and the last one was just a family and dinner, as luck would have it, one of the two kids who planned a big for-all party actually failed so you can see how the party plan went out the drain. A whole month they planed, and what did he do?

Mope around, try to figure out why he has sudden amnesia periods, vandalize the village out of frustration whenever he failed at something and eat ramen. And not once has he planned something special, sure he planned on going to Ichiraku's ramen, but he didn't feel like going anymore. But what could he plan besides having a big bowl of heaven? The Hokage gave him and a bunch of other orphans a budget, meaning they can't really do a party or anything particularly expensive without saving up. Naruto learned that after he wasted most of his cash on a toy...which he broke in two days...that was a really hard week...And he pretty much blew his money on ramen and stuff for pranks and vandalism.

As he walked up to the can he thought about other things, like Sasuke whose face was still currently on the can. He kicked it and it went ahead of him. It always seems that whenever Naruto challenged Sasuke, things always go better for him. It's almost as if Sasuke gets ahead of him each time he kicks the can, literally and metaphorically. No matter how he kicks it, it will always be ahead of him. Then he kicked the can to the trash bin that was in from of him, ricochet off the wall and rolled around the edge before it finally fell in. Naruto has at least three options: he could quit and be failure, he can stop kicking Sasuke only for someone else to kick him and make him even better, or he could keep doing what he's doing and hope he gets a better end than Sasuke. Not one of them seemed appealing for Naruto.

"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto heard a girl call out from the other side of the alley. Speak of the devil.

"Hm" Naruto let out as he stopped dead in his tracks.

"What?" He heard a certain raven haired boy ask with monotone tone in his voice.

"You're going to my party, right" Naruto recognized the voice, it was Ino's. Naruto looked up to the cloudy skies. Now that he thought about it, it was Ino who was throwing the big for-all party, he knew that everyone got an invitation, he knew for a fact that Sasuke received ten, and five of them were from Ino...and one was from Sakura. And Naruto didn't get any...no surprise there.

"I thought it was also Shikamaru's and Choji's party" Sasuke questioned. Hey Naruto only heard rumors not solid facts.

"Yeah, but honestly, I'm the face of the party" she said with good tone in her voice. "Oh, did you get my invitation?"

"Yeah all five of them" but it didn't mean all rumors were wrong.

"So are you?"

"No" Sasuke replied without any hesitation.

"What! Why not?" she whined "Come on it'll be fun and I promise Naruto won't be there. I made sure not to invite him" she pleaded.

Naruto lowered his head as he lazily placed his back against the wooden fence in the alleyway without making a sound. He began to stare at his shadow. He knew no one forgot to invite him, they simply didn't. But hearing someone say it out loud like that...it stung. It was like someone had punched him in the gut. He curled his hands into a fist as he trembled and narrowed his eyes while his teeth grounding against each other. He was angry, but he was also sad. As he trembled he resisted the urge to let the liquid that was building up in his eyes escape. As his body shook he heard the rattle of chains come from somewhere, hell he could feel their vibration, but he cared not from where they came. Not now at least.

"Not interested. After all, what would a party accomplish?"

"Well you could accomplish making new friends, having fun, enjoy what life has to offer before being sent to its bowels" she persisted.

"Again not interested" he heard Sasuke say. Then he heard a person walking away, probably Sasuke. Naruto uncurled his hands and blew a few steams out his nose. It was his fault and his alone. The fact is he really hasn't given anyone a good reason to invite him. With all the pranks he pulled, how could he? He has at least played one a prank on all his classmates with the exception of Sakura. Oh how the mighty prank king has fallen, what did Iruka say about a situation like this? It was about a story...a tragedy...A tragic hero! That's it! A hero brought down by his own flaws. This was him, this was Naruto. Only...he's not a hero.

He sighed. For now, he was a zero. For the next week, he would be a nobody, a week from now, a ninja without a face. But after that, who knows. That's all he has to look forward to, his hopes and dreams for a better future.

He got off the wooden fence and continued walking home with his thumbs hooked to his pockets. "Well that's just great" he heard Ino say bitterly as he continued walking. Then he saw her walk forward and then turn to his direction with a scowl on her face, obviously upset that Sasuke wasn't going to show up to the party tomorrow. Apparently she was too deep in her angry thoughts; otherwise she would have noticed him by now.

"Ino?" Naruto said making himself sound surprised. That's when Ino was brought out of her thoughts and looked at Naruto with a surprised expression. He could have sworn that she muttered the words "Oh crap" to herself.

He raised an eyebrow and asked "What're you doing here?" He could have said that it was mean that she didn't invite him or insult her or something. But hey, you reap what you sow.

"Uh...I could ask you the same thing about you" she said, obviously trying to play it cool.

"Um...I'm taking a shortcut home because I live over there" he said as he pointed in the direction his house was in as he continued walking.

"Oh yeah...that's right" she said weakly with a down face, as if she should have known this.

"Well, see ya next week Ino" he said with a happy tone in his voice besides the fact that he was far from it.

"Yeah, see yeah" she said, he could have sworn he heard Ino sigh in relief after he passed her. She continued walking like he did before Naruto spoke up. She obviously didn't want to face Naruto about him not being invited to the party.

"Oh and by the way Ino" he said as he turned to see her back shiver "Sorry."

"Huh" she let out as she turned to face him "Sorry? For what?"

"Sorry, but I won't be able to come to your party tomorrow" Naruto said as he scratched the back of his neck while looking at her feet trying to look as nervous as ever. It's not that he wanted to guilt trip her...that much...but to a sure her that he wouldn't show up. So he expected her to smile and say "Don't worry about it, it's not problem."

But instead she crossed her arms and she asked with puzzled look "Why not?"

"Oh, I'm not really a fan of crowds. I mean, what would I do? Tell a few jokes, do something weird and make 'em all laugh? Sure it's nice to see the faces they make, but it gets old after a while. Besides, I already made plans for tomorrow" he quickly made up.

"Like..." she trailed off for him to further elaborate.

"Oh that's the funny part" he quickly said. _"Why is Ino being so persistent"_ Naruto questioned in his head. _"Does she think I'm planning to ruin her party or something?" _But he was facing a greater dilemma. He had no plan. So he quickly made more stuff up. "I made plans to...make plans" he chuckled. "Before next week, the day we officially become ninjas, I need to do one big final prank."

"A final prank" she repeated. "What for" Ino asked more curious than ever.

"Oh-uh, since I am going to be a ninja, that means I can't pull anymore pranks because it'd be a bad look for ninja, so...they would strip me of my rank! And you know me, I'm the king of pranks, and only little kids love pranks the way I do. And after we officially become ninjas we become adults or something. So I guess I'm saying good bye to the kid in me. So tomorrow, I need retrace my steps; see which prank I haven't done yet and plan accordingly. Bottom line, I need to figure out the best way to say goodbye to myself." Naruto said with a determined smile. Ino just stayed silent, clearly this wasn't what she expected, and honestly, Naruto could say that he did either. Really those words came out so...naturally. Like he actually meant them...

"Again, I'm sorry I won't be able to come to your party tomorrow" he said as he smile with his eyes closed "Bye, see you later."

"Later" he heard her say weakly. While Naruto left as he turned the corner. He didn't see Ino looking at the ground with a frown. She turned around slowly and started walking back to her house while staring at the ground; each step was a slow one. And she walked all the way home frowning. Hey, you reap what you sow.

* * *

><p>Naruto was currently taking a nap, because he wakes up somewhere in the middle of the night and stays awake for the rest of the day, as you can imagine, he gets <em>pretty <em>tired despite all of his energy nearing the end of the day. Lately he's been napping later and later, and the naps grew shorter and shorter, but only by a little bit. Right now Naruto was wrapped in blanket as he slept peacefully on his bed.

**Tap-Tap.**

Naruto just kept snoring as if he hadn't heard the taps on his glass window.

**Tap-Tap.**

This time he groaned.

**Tap-Tap.**

He groaned some more as he tossed and turned.

**BANG-BANG!**

"DAMN IT!" Naruto yelled as he sat up "LOOK! I'M NOT GOING TO BUY YOUR STUPID COOKIES!" he yelled. Then he noticed he was in bed. He quickly looked around the room "Huh? Where did the tree elf go?"

**Tap-Tap**

Naruto looked at his window to find Mizuki waiting outside with a slightly annoyed look on his face as well as two Popsicle sticks.

A couple of minutes later they were both outside watching the sunset as they enjoyed their frozen treats. "I still can't believe that all I had to do was make more than thirty clones to make the jutsu work" Naruto said.

"I still can't believe we overlooked the possibility of you having too much chakra" replied Mizuki as he bit a piece of his now soft Popsicle.

"Yeah..." Naruto said with a downhearted look. All that time he wasted a single jutsu, all that time that could've been spent on trying to figure out what to spend his time on...

"What's wrong" Mizuki asked as he glanced at his student's pitiful look.

"Nothing. It's just" Naruto began before he shook his head "I should have paid more attention to both you and Iruka. I should have thought doing a lot of things."

"Hmm" Mizuki hummed "So you finally figured it out" he said. Naruto just remained silent with his eyes fixed on the sunset.

"Figure what out?"

"You figured out where you stand amongst your classmates" he said calmly. "Both Iruka and I tried to tell you, but the message never got through."

Now that Naruto thought about it both Iruka and Mizuki gave him hints just about...every day. "Why not tell me directly" he asked.

"Sometimes" he began as he took another bite of his Popsicle "Da direkt approachs can dho" he swallowed "More harm than good."

"..." Naruto just remained silent as he continued to stare at the sunset. "Exactly" Naruto began "Where _do_ I stand?"

"We both know the answer to that one, Naruto" Mizuki said before he sighed "But it never hurts to hear it out loud. Now, for starters, do you have any plans for tomorrow? Like say: going to a party?"

"No."

"Do you have any ideas on what your strong points are as well as your weak ones?"

"Not...exactly" basically a no.

"Do you have any special talents-besides annoying people?"

"...Crap."

"Yep" Mizuki said "The academy was also supposed to be a place where you could discovered hidden talents and learn basic scholastic stuff. You know, in case cadets failed. But you, Naruto, wasted your time on pranks and who knows what else. You barely took class seriously and yesterday you used a completely ridiculous excuse."

"BUT I DID RUN INTO A TREE!" Naruto yelled as he faced his sensei.

"Even so, if I were to say where you stand, you'd be greener than the grass around you. And that's not good."

"Yeah, but what could I do about it now, I mean, everybody knows a cool a jutsu. Like Sasuke and his fireball."

"Naruto, only clan kids know other types of jutsus, and some kids with ninja parents."

"Which is probably the only portion that passed by the way" Naruto pointed out. "Well except for me anyway."

"Yeah, but that's not important. Basics though, that's important."

"How? The basic stuff sucks! I mean when would we ever use the clone jutsu in a real life or death situation?"

"You'd be surprised. And Basics, Naruto, basic are the building blocks and basis for many jutsus. I mean, how do you think the really cool jutsus are created?" Just when Naruto was about to answer, Mizuki beat him to the punch. "Well it's through basic concepts and ideas, not to mention, basics training. Think of it like a seed. When you have the seed planted you can just water it and look for some growth supplement to make it bloom faster. Or you could take your time and do the work and make the flower bloom, and not only that, you could make it prettier than any other flower."

"Uh, sensei, that sounded really stupid" Naruto said causing Mizuki to nearly fall off the ledge of the building they were sitting on. "Couldn't you have used a better alogy?"

"It analogy and, does it really matter?" He said loudly.

"Little bit."

"Look, point is, basic stuff could be used to create awesome stuff. The basics are used as a foundation to give a jutsu its strength and or form. Better?"

"Very."

"What Iruka had to do to get you to actually be good enough to graduate" Mizuki said as he shook his head "It must have been tough to the end."

"Yeah" Naruto said "I wonder what would have happened if I never listened to Iruka."

Mizuki suddenly slapped his back and said "Cheer up, Iruka pulled through for you in the end, didn't he?"

"I guess so" Naruto said as he took a bite of his own Popsicle stick "WHOA" he said as he resisted the urge to spit it out as Mizuki laughed.

"Not as easy as it looks, huh, Naruto?"

"How do you do it" he asked with his mouth occupied.

"It's a long life or death story kid. One I'm particularly fond of and I don't like to share."

Naruto swallowed the frozen chunk and then he grabbed his head "Brain freeze!"

Mizuki laughed out loud "Yeah that jerk said that too!"

"Hmm? What jerk?" Naruto asked as he looked at Mizuki.

Mizuki just smiled "Naruto that day is the day I out bested a guy who was considered the best in my graduating class."

"Really? Tell me more" Naruto said as he was paying more attention.

Mizuki scoffed "You just want to know because you think it'll help you beat Sasuke" he said with a wave of the hand.

Naruto nearly fell as he said "That obvious?"

Mizuki sighed with a smile "Look, Naruto, a story may encourage you, but it will not make you stronger." Mizuki turned his to see Naruto's confused look "It takes more than just simply wanting it; you have to work for it. Naruto, you were so focused on beating Sasuke on his stong points that you failed to see yours. Naruto, what plans do you have tomorrow if any?"

"Um…planning my last big prank?"

"Pranks!" stated Mizuki. Unlike Iruka, Mizuki had already accepted the fact that Naruto was prankster no matter what happened to him. "When you do pranks do you plan them or do you just do them in the heat of the moment?"

"Well I plan some but mostly I just do them in the heat of the moment."

"OK, when you do plan them, do they go accordingly?"

"Usually?" Mizuki nodded "No, I usually have to improvise."

"And there you go" Mizuki said with a smile "You actually pretty good at making elaborate plans, granted some of them could be considered as mortal traps, but when a plan doesn't go right you quickly improvise. All your plans are unorthodox so that'll surprise the enemy, your quick on your feet when you try to be, and you're random."

"Wait" Naruto began even more confused than before "Are those..." he trailed off.

"Your strong points, plus, you can really take beating, you have a lot of endurance, and you just don't know when to quit."

"Wow, thanks Mizuki sensei" Naruto said as he hugged the man with a strong grip "But I thought you-"

"Couldn't help you discover your talents? Naruto, that's both Iruka's and my job. And Iruka already came through for you." He then took a deep breath "And I guess it's my turn now."

"Huh?" Naruto said as he looked up to his sensei.

"Naruto" Mizuki said as he lightly pushed Naruto off him and looked at him in the eyes with a serious demeanor. "Do you really want a non-basic jutsu?"

Naruto stared at him for a moment before his features hardened and gave a nod. "Are you going to teach me a jutsu?"

Mizuki closed his eyes and shook his head "No, I was thinking that you need a jutsu that suits you. A jutsu that requires a lot of chakra" Naruto just stared at him. "Tell me Naruto, how well do you know the Hokage's office?"

* * *

><p>The sun had set an hour ago and Naruto was currently sneaking his way into the Hokage's office. He had to be careful; right now the Hokage is probably taking a nap in a room below his office. A bead of cold sweat trailed down his face. He could get caught at any moment. But right now he had to focus. He slowly opened the door to the Hokage's office and silently crept in, quickly scanning the dark for anything that shouldn't be there. He kept moving until he got to the wall. He quickly pulled a painting off the wall to reveal a safe.<p>

"Hmm" Naruto hummed silently with narrowed eyes, he thought the safe was just going to be a handle but apparently there was also a dial. Then his face grew into a toothy grin when he remembered the pages of an orange book the Hokage read over and over again. Naruto quickly turned the dial counterclockwise to a number 2, then clockwise to a number 49 and finally back to a number 31. There was click and Naruto pulled the handle and opened the safe to reveal two scrolls.

_"Alright Naruto, listen to me carefully"_ Mizuki's voice ran though his head. _"In the Hokage's office, behind a painting is a little safe, there are two scrolls in that safe, a black one and a red one. They are going to be moved to new safer location tomorrow so tonight is your only chance. Naruto, take the red scroll. It is filled with forbidden S-rank jutsus. The reason their forbidden is because they harm the user or they require a large amount of chakra to use, which makes them impractical. But leave the black one alone, don't even think about taking it, don't even look at it. Just take the red one." _Naruto slowly took the red scroll out of the safe before he closed it and place the painting back in front of it. _"After you take the red scroll and get out of the Hokage's office, head west of the village and a trail of slashed trees, eventually, you'll find a shack. When you get there, open the scroll and pick one and only one jutsu. Do you understand? Good. And remember get the form down first. Don't try to rush into it. Just take your time memorizing the form instead of trying to do the jutsu right away."_

Naruto made sure he had a firm grip on the scroll that weighed about ten pounds. Naruto then began making his way-

The lights suddenly turned on with a CLICK and an old surprised voice said "Naruto? What are you doing here?" Naruto recognized the voice enough to know that it was the Third Hokage.

"Crap" Naruto muttered under his breath as he turned around to face the Hokage who looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Well?" The Third Hokage asked again with a more serious tone.

"Um" Naruto begin before he made a quick hand sign and yelled "Sexy Jutsu!" Suddenly Naruto exploded into a white smoke and was replaced with thin blonde woman with two pony tails and smoke covering her privates. And then she said in a very seductive voice "Oh I just wanted to play with you~"

**THUMP**

"Well that was easy..."

* * *

><p>A few minute later, Naruto was somewhere in the woods, west of Konoha, in front of a wooden shack. He literally picked the first jutsu he read and it was-<p>

"Shadow Clone Jutsu" Naruto yelled after he ran though the hand signs. He ran through the hand seals and it had a few more seals compared to the regular clone jutsu.

"Damn it" Naruto muttered with half batted breath and few beads of sweat. The latest batch of clones he created actually resembled him...slightly. Two had deformed heads, one was missing an arm- no wait-it was just tiny, and three had unproportioned body parts, but the last one...it came out alright...but it had black hair, red eyes, and missing a shirt. All in all, it was another failure with a few improvements.

Naruto huffed for a little bit before he dispelled the jutsu. Naruto walked to the shack and leaned his back against it before he slid down.  
><em>"I'm just a failure no matter what way you put it"<em> He thought in his head with depressed sigh. _"Now I'm a Ninja. But what good would I do?"_ Naruto thought back to all the times he tried, to all the times he failed, and all the looks he had gotten, not to mention, all the pain. He shook his head with an infuriated expression. All those thoughts, all those memories, all that pain just find its way into his head no matter how much he tries to bury it deep down! It just seemed like the deeper he tried to bury it, the more it would hurt.

_"...I promise Naruto won't be there. I made sure not to invite him"_ The memories of Ino's harsh words ran through his head. He puts all his sadness, all his hatred, all his pain into pranks and jokes, into making people smile. He would never admit to anybody but, he hated it, the smiles. It was ironic, he tried his best to make them all smile, to make them happy, to see each and every single one of them laughing around him; and yet, he hated it. Those smiles, those happy laughers, he hated it all. Why would he do it? Maybe so that some of their happiness would rub off on him?No, Naruto is a storm that blows hard. He brought winds full of jokes so that everyone would be satisfied and not try to look underneath. Not try to see Naruto for who he actually is.

A sad kid with no friends his age. His worries, his real laugh, his real smile, his true feelings, their all special to him...he never really considered it something to just throw out in the open. The only people who actually know the true him is both of his senseis and Ayame and her dad. The only people he trusted in the world. Naruto wouldn't even show his anger, his true hatred. Everyone had always thought he was just some nobody who would never make it anywhere in life.

Naruto smiled. "I'll show them" he said out loud. He chuckled "I'll show them all" he stood up "I'm going to be Hokage." He then got back into position. The jutsu was failure, but it did have improvements. Mizuki was right; Naruto doesn't know when to give up. "I'm gonna prove to everyone that I'm not a loser! SHADOW CLONE JUTSU!"

* * *

><p>"Naruto, of all things why this" Iruka muttered. Sure he expected Naruto to do something big on the day of his graduation like pulling another prank on the Hokage or drawing his face next to the Hokage monuments. But stealing the scroll full of the Konoha's forbidden jutsus was going too far.<p>

After searching for a while, Iruka had to admit, Naruto really stepped up his game. It seemed like it was just yesterday when Naruto was easy to track, but after a whole year, his tracks weren't as obvious anymore. So when he found a broken branch with a orange lint on it, he quickly picked up his pace. He soon reached an opening where he found a wooden shack and a worn out blond in orange clothing laying his back against it.

"Found you" Iruka said as he jumped in front of Naruto. The tired blond only managed to let out a "Huh" as he looked up to Iruka. Iruka was worn out himself, he was pretty sure every shinobi looking for Naruto is worn out by now. So given the fact that he just found the person he was hunting, worn out, and still had adrenalin pumping through his systems, Iruka gave a laugh "Hahahahaha."

But his laugh was soon reciprocated by Naruto's laugh "Hehehehehe" which cause Iruka to raise a brow.

"Naruto…" he began "What on earth were you thinking!" Iruka yelled, but Naruto was only slightly fazed for he remained still with a smile. "Well" Iruka asked again in a calmer voice.

"Well since you came through for me" Naruto began his explanation "Mizuki-sensei said he'd come through."

"Mizuki?"

"Hmm" Naruto said with a smile and a nod "He told me exactly where the scroll was and which one to take. But he told me to only pick one jutsu. So I picked the first one I found" he said with a now toothy smile.

"Why would Mizuki…" Iruka trailed off as he tried to think of a good reason why his best friend would have Naruto do something so reckless and practically treason. He kept thinking until-

"IRUKA! NARUTO" They both turned their heads to see Mizuki rushed towards them at incredible speed and push them. Not a second later did volley of shurikens his side. He let out a scream of pain as he fell on the floor. Both Iruka and Naruto were witnessing the scene that just happened before their eyes.

"Mizuki-sensei!" Naruto yelled as Iruka could only watch. They were both soon taken out of their trance by a sick laughter. They both turned their heads to see a man with ANBU uniform and possum mask standing a tree branch. His laugh began a chuckle "ha-ha-ha-ha-ha" then it quickly evolved into a loud sickening cackle "HUA! HA-HA-HAA! HA-HA-HA-HA-HAA!" Then he stopped, or at least tried to. "Ha ha this is so perfect!"

"Wait a minute" Iruka said out loud as he recognized that voice "Hei?"

"Nice to see you again, Iruka" he said with a glee, "_Mizuki_" he said as the voice literally dripped out of his tongue with venom "And you too, Naruto."

"Great" Mizuki muttered through his bloodied teeth as he began to push himself up "Its highboy."

"Highboy?" Naruto asked, and then he saw Iruka get in front of Naruto and pull out a Kunai.

"Again with that nickname" he grumbled to himself.

"Why did you attack Mizuki, Hei?" Iruka asked as he tensed for a battle.

"Isn't it obvious?" Hei said as he pulled out more Kunais "He's a traitor, along with that brat. And if you were loyal to Konoha, you would turn around and put that monster down."

"Monster?" Naruto asked "Iruka what's he talking about?"

"Nothing Naruto, just runaway as fast as you can to the Hokage. I'll hold him off" Iruka said.

"What!" Naruto practically yelled "What about Mizuki Sensei?"

"Keh" He heard as he saw Mizuki standing up "Don't be quick to count me out so soon you little brat."

"Naruto run!" Iruka yelled at Naruto as he brought his hands to form a hand seal. Naruto was about to argue but Mizuki caught in. "Naruto, it's fine, it's two of us against one of him, so go to the Hokage and tell him what happened."

"Right" Naruto said weakly, not really sure what to do, but he thought it over and it was two against one, so he nodded and ran in the direction he thought lead back to the village.

"That poor idiot, don't tell me you didn't teach him about power differences. Two chunins can't stop a ninja from the ANBU Black Ops Unit."

"Maybe not" Iruka said "But we can still stall you" he said with determination in his voice.

"Yeah" Mizuki said "And besides, proper procedure is to capture the defectors unless it is completely impossible. And like you stated before, two chuunins can't possibly dream about defeating a member of the ANBU Black Ops Unit, especially when one is severely injured."

"Hei, don't tell me you're defecting!" Iruka yelled "Think of the village!"

"HA!" Hei yelled back "The village? Don't make me laugh. We all know why I became a ninja in the first place! I didn't want to be a ninja! But it was easy for me to be one in order to protect the thing I love. Now that that's gone, what's left? Even that Sanin, Tsunade, left the village because she lost her precious things too. So tell me Iruka, Mizuki, what's left for me to return to!"

"Couldn't tell ya" Mizuka said as he pulled out a scroll.

"Then why now" Iruka asked "Why defect now and not back then?"

"I had a little" he said he braced himself "Soul searching to do. And that brat might just be the thing that'll throw everyone off my back. Everyone will be too busy to even think about me." Both Mizuki and Iruka realized exactly what Kei was going to do. He was going to kill Naruto and release the Kyuubi or worse, have him under the influence of the Biju.

"Don't you dare lay a finger on him!" Iruka yelled as he heard a puff beside him. He spared a glace to see that Mizuka unsealed two giant shurikens.

"Oi,whats wrong with you" Mizuki asked "You never thought of Naruto as monster."

"Well I still don't" he said bluntly "I never believed in that bullshit! Naruto was just some kid back then, and now he's ninja, just another tool to kill like you guys and me."

"But then why?"

"To distract all of you" he replied bluntly again.

"What" both chunins said at the same time.

Hei just sighed "Think about it, who was here first? Release!" and then suddenly both Iruka and Mizuki found that their vision warped and twisted before they found that they were staring at the cabin and gasped at their surprise.

"Wait a minute, if this was like this and if he was here the entire time..." Mizuki trailed off.

"Then Naruto went in the wrong direction!" Iruka cried with a horrified look "Mizuki! Hei already has a heard start!"

"Right! Lets Move!"

* * *

><p><em>"That's odd"<em> Naruto thought as he stopped by a tree and tried to control his breathing. But he never noticed the shadow covered figure a couple meters behind him. And then suddenly the figure threw a sharp Kunai at Naruto...


End file.
